Presser-foot for sewing-machines.



E. W. MATHEWSON. PRESSEB FOOT FOR SEWING MACHINES. APPLlCATiON FILED MAY 20. 1914.

1,147,960. Patented July 2?, 1915.

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ATTORNEYS ran snares naarrr EMERSON WESLEY MATHEWSON, 0F TURONTO, GNTARIG, CANADA.

PRESSEB-FOOT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Application filed May 20, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMERSON WESLEY MATHnwsoN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Toronto, in the Province of Ontario and Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and Improved Presser-Foot for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a sewing machine presser foot of that type provided with means for preventing the stretching of the upper of two or more pieces of material that are being sewed.

The general objects of the present invention are to improve and simplify the construction and operation of presser feet of that character having anti-friction devices in the under or cloth-engaging surface so as to be reliable and efficient in use, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and so designed as to enable the cloth to feed under the foot not only in a straight line but in any desired direction.

A more specific object of the invention is'the provision of a presser foot having one or more steel balls set in the bottom of the presser foot in proper relation to the needle, whereby there will, in practice, be no stretching action of the upper ply of two pieces of cloth to be sewed together, the ball or balls being set in grooves or chambers v which are of such size as to allow free rotation of the balls in any direction and without any danger of damaging or marking the goods. I

In carrying out the invention the Presser foot will be slightly thicker than those in common use and is provided with one or more grooves which may extend trans versely to contain one or more steel balls, such grooves being of circular cross-section and of a diameter slightly larger than the balls, and each groove havingits under side open so that the bottoms of the balls can project therefrom. The ball or balls are retained in their respective grooves by removable plates arranged at the heel or side of the presser foot. At least one of the balls will be located in front of a transverse line coincident with the needle so as to maintain the pieces of fabric in proper relation to be sewed, while feeding the same without any stretching action.

With such objects in view, and others which will. appear as the description pro- Patented July Serial No. 839,759.

ceeds, the invention comprises various novel features of constructionand arrangement of parts which will be set forth with particularity in the following description and claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates certain embodiments of the invention,'and wherein similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in.

all the views, Figure 1 is a front view of the presser foot shown applied to a sewing machine; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the presser foot removed; Fig. 3 1s a sectional view of the presser foot; Fig. 4 IS a rear view; Fig. 5 1s a front View of a modified form of presser foot wherein balls .are arranged at opposite sides of the needle slot of the foot; Fig. 6 is a front view of a further modified form wherein two sets of anti-friction balls are arranged on the same side of the needle slot; Fig. Y is a longitudinal section of the presser foot showing anti-friction balls of difierent sizes and entered from the side thereof; and Fig. 8 is a a sectional view on the line 88, Fig. 7.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates the body of the presser foot which has rising from its heel portion a stem or shank 2 snitably shaped at its upper end into a socket this chamber is so positioned with respect to the diameter that the chamber will have its under side open, so that the anti-friction balls 8, which are of slightly smaller diameter than the chamber, will project out of the open side or slotted bottom of the latter.

The width of the slot is slightly less the diameter of the balls, so that the latter can not drop out. The balls are in place by a heel plate 9 fastened to the preseer foot by screws or equivalent means 16.. .VVhen the presser foot is lowered into engagement with the cloth the ballsmove upwardly and engage the top of the chamber 5 in the presser foot, while the "cttom 1G6? tions of the balls still project out of the chamber, but owing to the difference in di-- ameter of the balls and chamber, each hall will only have a single point of contact with the wall of the chamber, and consequently there is comparatively little friction, and yet the balls are free to rotate on any axis, which is an important advantage, since the goods can be guided in curved lines, as well as straight without any retarding action from the anti-friction devices. r In Fig. 5 the presser foot is shown with the balls 8 arranged at both sides of the Y needle slot 11 of the foot, while in Fig. 6

the balls 8 are arranged in separate chambers but at the sairie side of the needle slot 11. In these two cases the balls are set in their respective chambers from the heel part of the foot. It ispossible to employ a series of balls 8 of different diameters, as shown in.

F ig. 7, the smaller ball being nearest the toe,

and these balls can be set in their respective From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, the advantages of the construction and method of operation will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while I have described thedevice which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative, and that such changes may be made when desired as are within the scope of the appended claims. 7

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A presser foot for sewing machines having a chamber in its under side which is open in the bottom surface of the foot, and a smooth ball arranged within the chamher and of such diameter that when the top of the ball is engaged with the top of the chamber the lower part of the ball projects sufliciently from the open bottom of the chamber to engage the cloth under the foot and keep the bottom surface of thefoot out of frictional contact with the cloth.

2'. A sewing machine presser foot provided with a plurality of chambers each having an opening in the bottom surface of the foot, an anti-friction ball freely rotatable in each chamber, the height of each chamber being less than the diameter of the ball therein.

and the opening in the bottom of each chamber being less than the diameter of. the ball therein, whereby the lower portions of the balls extend out of their respective chambers when the balls are in contact with the tops of the chambers.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EMERSON WESLEY inrin wsori l l itnesses JOHN N. S. MoLnAN, D. S. Tovnrm. 

